Popular Science Monthly/Volume 25/September 1884/Literary Notices
Outlines of Psychology, with Special Reference to the Theory of Education. By James Sully, author of "Illusions," etc. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 711. Price, $3.
Mr. Sully has brought to the preparation of this comprehensive work unusual accomplishments for the task. He is well known as an indefatigable student of mental science, and his numerous contributions to the leading English periodicals, on advanced psychological questions, give him a high rank both as an original inquirer and an attractive and successful writer upon these subjects. He is the author of several systematic works, one of which, on "Illusions," prepared for the "International Scientific Series," has been republished in this country. Mr. Sully is thoroughly familiar with the results and methods of the modern English school of psychological thought, and he has also pursued his studies in Germany under the ablest masters, so that he is well equipped for dealing with the subject in the light of the most advanced views. It may be added that he is no partisan and no extremist, but writes with care, moderation, and Judicial fairness, taking impartial advantage of the best that has been gained by the various schools of investigation. Recognizing the importance of introspection as an instrument of psychological observation and analysis, he supplements it by the physiological study of the nervous conditions and concomitants of mind. His general point of view is that of evolution, and his capacity of handling his subject by this method may be inferred from the fact that he was chosen in conjunction with Professor Huxley to write the elaborate article on "Evolution" for the present edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica." It may be added that his book is one of great clearness, and will prove of unusual interest to the general reader, while as a text-book of mental science it undoubtedly has merits superior to any other treatise now before the public.
We pointed out editorially, not long ago, in an article entitled "The Progress of Mental Science," the important results that have flowed from the widening of the method in mental studies by which metaphysical speculation has been supplemented by the knowledge of mind, as physiologically conditioned, and we showed that the benefits of this change are conspicuous in the practical results obtained. The time has come when the validity of the science of mind is to be largely tested by such practical applications, and we have noted with gratification that Mr. Sully accepts this view, and has constructed his treatise with reference to it. While the work is, of course, mainly a strict and systematic treatise on psychological science, presenting its elements in their due proportions, yet the author throughout has developed its practical bearings upon the art of education. In regard to this feature of his work, the author makes the following remarks in his introduction:
This characteristic of Mr. Sully's work we hold to be of especial importance; for, although no great amount of space is given to the subject of education, yet the whole course of the exposition is so tributary to it that what is stated has a high and peculiar value. The lessons for the teacher are derived immediately from the latest and broadest views on the subject of mind. The time has gone by when the old modes of studying this subject are satisfactory. That a teacher has read up a lot of metaphysical treatises and become familiar with their subtile dialectics and old terminology is no evidence whatever of competency to guide the processes of mental development. Rather is it a disqualification, for a mind saturated with the antiquated mental philosophy is certain to be prejudiced against the new and better methods. It is indisputable that there has been a radical change and a vast improvement in the study of mind, within recent years, and the teacher who has not benefited by that improvement is fundamentally deficient in the preparation for his work. The author of this treatise has therefore done a most important service in dealing with the subject of education, in connection with his broad presentation of the present state of knowledge upon the subject of psychological science.
The True Theory of the Sun. By Thomas Bassnett. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 264, with Plate. Price, $3.
Mr. Bassnett is the author of the "Outlines of a Mechanical Theory of Storms" which he published some thirty years ago, and the substance of which he presented before the American Association, to have its principle found inadequate by the committee to whom the subject was referred. For this treatment and for other evidences of lack of appreciation which he has received at the hands of men of science, he is still grieved. He continues to press his theory, and now expands it and extends it to solar storms and their influence. It presupposes vortexes in the ethereal medium in connection with the motions of the earth and the planets, and the exertion by the moon of disturbing influences upon the terrestrial vortexes, producing electrical action and storms. The author believes that he has ascertained the law of the disturbances, and can accurately predict the occurrence of storms in any part of the earth. A common origin in similar phenomena is hypothecated for solar spots and the corona and for atmospheric changes and cyclones. Those may test the theory who are able to master it and wish to try the experiment; four tables are given for computing the maximum and minimum epochs of solar activity and "the passage in time and place of the chief disturbances from the equator to the poles in both hemispheres."
The Consolations of Science; or, Contributions from Science to the Hope of Immortality, and Kindred Themes. By Jacob Straub. With an Introduction by Hiram W. Thomas, D. D. Chicago: The Colegrove Book Company. Pp. 435. Price, $2.
This work comes to us very highly commended for its admirable spirit, its masterly criticism, and its exalting views, by such men of thought as President Porter, Rev. Robert Collyer, and Professor Swing, and we have no doubt that many people will enjoy it, and find themselves helped and encouraged in their religious aspirations by the views it presents. The author has mastered the tendencies of modern science, and finds that the profoundest lesson to be drawn from them is that the most real, lasting, and powerful things are invisible, and on the basis of all that science has revealed he claims to gain strong confirmation of the belief in a future state of existence, and the immortality of conscious being. But while it is no doubt possible to appeal in this way to science for consoling encouragements in regard to the future and everlasting life, it can only be by great freedom and boldness of speculation that reassuring responses can be returned. It is not in the power of science to prove the truth of immortality. Science can only deal with the phenomena of time and experience, and whatever transcends these must be left to the sphere of faith.
Government Revenue, especially the American System: an Argument for Industrial Freedom against the Fallacies of Free Trade. By Ellis H. Roberts. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 389. Price, $1.60.
This volume has a claim to the attention of readers, first, because of the information which it contains on the subject of government revenue; next, because it is a hot polemic in behalf of protection, and against free trade, full of ingenious arguments; and, lastly, because its contents have been delivered as lectures before the students of Cornell University and of Hamilton College.
The book abounds with facts upon financial and economical subjects, indicating the author's wide and critical reading. But facts with him are valuable only as tributary to theories. Accordingly, he argues broadly on the basis of his multitudinous data against the freedom of commerce, and in favor of the protective system, and the political regulation of the industries of the country.
The delivery of his views before college classes was by no means a bad idea. Something is, indeed, to be said in favor of limiting collegiate study to subjects which are settled in their principles; and political economy has long been recognized as fitted for college study because it involved established truths of great public importance. But among these have been the principles of free trade, so that these institutions have become centers of propagandism of this doctrine. That the advocates of protection should not be satisfied with this, is only natural; but, instead of trying to suppress the objectionable teachings, they have more wisely attempted, as in this case, to correct the evil by presenting the claims of the opposite system. The difficulty is, how far this policy can be carried. Will the authorities of Cornell University permit Mr. Ignatius Donnelly, author of "Ragnarok," to go before its classes and present the other side of the accredited geology? Mr. Donnelly's case is of the same kind, and quite as strong as Mr. Roberts's.
Mr. Roberts's theme is, "The Subject of Revenue, especially the getting of Money for the Public Treasury." It "relates to filling the Treasury, and not to emptying it; we are to find out about the income of states"; and this "will bring us immediately upon the relations of government to the people." We infer, from looking over his book, what seems to be confirmed by all history, that it is the great, primary, universal business of all government to get money out of the people; and the question is, as to the easiest and most effectual way of accomplishing this object. Mr. Roberts maintains, and we think he proves, that the most successful way of extracting money from the people is not openly to demand it, as something honestly due to government, but by the indirect process of levying exactions upon commerce. Mr. Roberts shows that this is the ancient, the favorite, and most extensively employed method; and, if the object of government be solely to raise money, without regard to any other consideration, beyond doubt the taxation of commerce is the best method. But the taxation of commerce is a burden upon it, restricting its freedom, and disturbing the price of the commodities taxed. This consequence of the repression of foreign commerce has been utilized for the regulation of the home industries of nations by the so-called protective system, which is a natural result of the revenue system expounded by Mr, Roberts, and they are accordingly both defended together.
There is one feature of our author's argument which at this time is something of a curiosity. He calls this old system of restriction and protection, which has been a favorite with kings, tyrants, and oligarchies from the beginning for plundering the people, "the American System." Many will remember the brilliant passage in Daniel Webster's celebrated free-trade speech of 1324 (left out of Everett's edition of Webster's works), in which he exposed with merciless invective the absurdity of Henry Clay in calling the ancient policy of commercial restriction "the American System." Yet sixty years later Mr. Roberts finds this designation quite as available as ever. But, after proclaiming "the American System" on his title-page, Mr. Roberts proceeds in the very first paragraph of his first chapter to show that the policy is as old as the Pharaohs. The King of Egypt "took his tribute also from ail merchants who entered his land." Among the various despotic ways of extorting money from the Egyptian people, "commerce contributed its full share by traffic in the name of the ruler, by charges on traders, and the first example of an export duty is traced to that ancient land." Not only the people, but both kings and priests, "were forbidden to use any article not produced in the country. The development of all classes of production was thus persistently fostered." The policy, it would seem, might thus be properly named the Egypto-American policy, but that our author shows that it has been substantially adopted by all governments from the time of the earliest Pharaoh to President Arthur.
Our author's reasoning upon this subject reminds us of the logic prevalent among the American people a quarter of a century ago in regard to the peculiar system of protecting the negro. It was maintained that this is best done by his enslavement, inasmuch as the enslavement of man, in one form or another, has been practiced in all communities and at all times. The restrictions upon trade and the regulation of industry by levies upon commerce are urged as having precisely this sanction, for, as Mr. Roberts says:
"No axiom of morals, no doctrine of any creed, hardly any fact in science outside of pure mathematics, has ever been so uniformly sustained by the teachings and practice, certainly not by such a consent of legislation, of mankind in all ages," as restraints upon the liberty of trade and the freedom of industry.
But Mr. Roberts evidently does not relish the idea of being ranked as an enemy of all freedom in the business affairs of the people in this country and in this age. He proclaims that men should be free to work or that they should be at liberty to produce what they like and as they like, and only be manacled when they come to dispose of their productions. He has a great deal to say about "liberty of production" and "industrial freedom." He must therefore think that men, if "let alone," and left free to exercise the largest option in the choice and pursuit of vocations, will create more property than if hampered and meddled with by government.
But why the same principle would not apply to the exchange of property, and why wealth would not be further augmented by the liberty of citizens to sell and buy the products of labor when and where they will, without let or hindrance, he does not explain. His concession of "the liberty of production" is, however, illusory. Commerce and industry are so bound up together that you can not fetter the former without restricting the latter. Indeed, one of the avowed purposes of repressing commerce is the coercion of production. As trade is not free if hindered or paralyzed by legislative action, so production is not free if forced by government into artificial channels, and regulated by politicians rather than left to the open competitions of private enterprise.
Six Centuries of Work and Wages. The History of English Labor. By James E. Thorold Rogers, M. P. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 591. Price, $3.
In the midst of the deluge of books on social questions—labor, wages, land, co-operation and what not—most of them mere wild and worthless speculations, we turn with a sense of refreshing relief to this solid contribution to the subject from the point of view of simple historic facts. Professor Rogers is known as a political economist of wide acquirements and independent opinions, but he is so far imbued with the scientific method as to recognize that our first need is to get command of the facts of experience in a form available for the derivation of safe conclusions. Some eighteen years ago he published the first two volumes of a comprehensive "History of Agriculture and Prices," and the present volume is but a continuation of his line of studies in this general direction. The work is nothing less than a contribution to the social history of England, treated with reference to the conditions of the laboring-classes at various periods, their opportunities of labor, their rates of wages, their social privations and comforts, and all with reference to the influence of government and legislation, and the constitution of English society.
The theme is a noble one, and it is handled with great instructiveness, and with a sustained interest from the beginning to the end of the volume. It should have a place in every library, and is one of the books that must be carefully consulted by all students of social economics. The following passage, from the review of the London "Academy," exemplifies the character of the questions dealt with in Professor Rogers's work:
It is an honest and scholarly attempt to reconstruct the social state of England in the thirteenth century, and, from that as a starting-point, to trace the changes in the position of the laboring-classes from the time when many of the peasants were slaves, and most of them in a condition not far removed from serfdom, to the crisis when, by reason of plague and famine, the laborers, "as by a stroke," became suddenly the masters of the situation. The great pestilence made labor scarce, while at the same time the bonds were loosened which tied the laborer to the land. Wages were high, and food remained cheap; and, although continual attempts were made to reduce wages by act of Parliament, it may be fairly said that "the golden age of the English laborer" continued until the change in agriculture caused by the commercial disturbance which followed the discovery of America. The flow of gold and silver to Europe led to a rise in the prices offered in the Continental markets for English hides and wool; and this turned the landlords' attention from the old arable farming in common field to the rotation of grass and grain in the mixed husbandry that enabled them to meet the demand.
Key to North American Birds. Second edition, revised to date, and entirely rewritten. By Elliott E. Coues, M. D. Boston: Estes & Lauriat, Pp. 863. Price, $10.50.
This splendid and profusely illustrated book contains, to quote from its full title, a concise account of every species of living and fossil bird at present known from the continent north of the Mexican and United States boundary, inclusive of Greenland. The account is preceded by a general ornithology, or outline of the structure and classification of birds, and a field ornithology, or manual of collecting, preparing, and preserving birds. The whole is preceded by an "Historical Preface," in which the progress of American ornithology is outlined and divided off into periods, from its beginning in the seventeenth century to the present time. The first edition of Professor Coues's "Key" appeared in 1872, in an issue which was not stereotyped, and has been long out of print. It was composed upon the same general plan, and with the design of reaching the same ends, as the present edition, but had an artificial key to assist in the reference of specimens directly to their genera, which has not been found useful enough to justify its retention. It answered its purpose well, of giving such descriptions of species as would enable the student to identify and label them with no other aid than itself afforded. It had a useful career till the issue was exhausted and no more copies could be had. During the twenty years that elapsed before the present edition was ready for the press, American ornithology had a great development. The number of distinguished species increased to nearly nine hundred; numerous treatises were published on the subject; a distinctly American school grew up, introducing important changes in nomenclature and classification; and an American Ornithologists' Union was founded, with members in all quarters of the globe. In preparing this edition, the classification and nomenclature have been modified to suit the growth of the science; the author's "Field Ornithology," published separately in 1874, has been incorporated in the volume; the outline of "Structure and Classification" has been greatly amplified; and the descriptions of genera, species, and sub-species have been made much more elaborate, without loss, the author hopes, of that sharpness of definition which was the aim of the first edition and still having prominently in view the main purpose of the identification of specimens. The trinomial nomenclature, for the designation of sub-species and varieties—which "lends itself so readily" to the nicest discriminations of geographical races and the finest shades of variation—has been employed with much advantage, but not without a caution by the author against a too free use of it. The references to authorities, which were numerous in the first edition, have been omitted, and their place filled with additional notes about the habits and nesting of the species. The present edition contains about four times as much matter as the former one, and more than double the number of illustrations. We are sorry to observe that the author has not, in his preliminary chapters, preserved the dignity of style that is becoming in scientific works, or in any serious work, but has allowed himself to indulge too often in sensational expressions and jokes that are not always new or refined, to the unnecessary expansion of the text, without adding to its lucidity or its interest. The fault is not so obvious in the descriptive part of the book.
Mental Evolution in Animals. By George John Romanes, F. R. S., author of "Animal Intelligence." With a Posthumous Essay on "Instinct," by Charles Darwin. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 411. Price, $2.
In these systematic studies into the science of mind to which Mr. Romanes has recently appeared as an original contributor, the course of research breaks into three divisions. In the first, "Animal Intelligence," which appeared in the "International Scientific Series," the author devoted himself to the general data of his subject, or to the statement of the basal facts of comparative psychology. The book is chiefly descriptive of mental phenomena as observed in the lower animals, and aims at greater strictness than has hitherto been attained in determining what is trustworthy and what is doubtful among the alleged statements of fact in regard to mental manifestations among the lower creatures. As the volume was, however, a preparation for the study of psychological theories, its facts were chosen with reference to their bearing upon psychological principles to be subsequently investigated; the law of evolution was accepted as the guiding principle of the investigation, but the elaboration of the theory was postponed to a separate work. It was Mr. Romanes's intention to devote his second volume to the general discussion of evolutionary doctrine as displayed in mental phenomena of all orders; but, as he proceeded with the inquiry, materials accumulated, and the subject expanded to such proportions that it became necessary to divide the second part into two treatises—the one devoted to the evolution of mind in the lower animals, and the other to the evolution of mind in man. The volume now before us, the second published, is an exposition of comparative psychology on the basis of his first volume, and designed to exhibit mental evolution in the lower grades of the animal kingdom. The psychology of man is therefore expressly excluded from the volume before us, and the author offers, as one reason for this exclusion, that human psychology raises a class of questions with which he has no concern in dealing with comparative psychology. Prominent among these he assumes is the fundamental question whether, indeed, the principle of evolution is to be applied to the psychology of man. Although unqualifiedly assumed in his first volume and in the present as fundamentally true, and the sole key of interpretation in the lower sphere of mind, yet the author hesitates in its application to human psychology because Mr. Wallace differs with Mr. Darwin upon this subject. The issue between these great naturalists is, however, to be met and fully considered in the final volume.
Mr. Romanes explains in his introduction that, in treating of "Mental Evolution in Animals," he dismisses a class of inquiries hitherto involved in psychology, but which pertain rather to the philosophy than to the science of the subject. He deals with the science of psychology as distinguished from any theory of knowledge, limiting himself to the study of mind as an object, and of mental modifications simply as phenomena.
We can only briefly indicate the course of inquiry in the volume before us. Beginning with a search in the first chapter for "The Criterion of Mind," he then passes on in successive chapters to "The Structure and Functions of Nerve-Tissue," "The Physical Basis of Mind," "The Root Principles of Mind," "Consciousness," "Sensation," "Pleasures and Pains," "Perception," "Imagination," "Instinct," and this latter subject, which is the most prominent in the discussion, runs on from chapter eleventh to chapter eighteenth. "Reason" and "Animal Emotions" then come in for some consideration, and the volume closes with an appendix of thirty pages, consisting of a posthumous essay on "Instinct," by Mr. Charles Darwin, which was written for his book on "Natural Selection," but not included in it. Mr. Darwin left his psychological manuscripts to Mr. Romanes, to be printed or not as he thought fit, and he has included the essay on "Instinct" in his present disquisition on "Mental Evolution in Animals." It has been objected that Mr. Darwin was no psychologist; that he wrote on the subject long ago, and did not himself see fit to print what he had written; and that, on the whole, it would have been better for Mr. Darwin's reputation, and just as well for the world, if this old essay had not now been issued. But we think that Mr. Romanes was right in printing it. It can not seriously injure Mr. Darwin's reputation; and, if it does not help other people much, it will undoubtedly have interest as a record of the state of Mr. Darwin's mind upon that subject. If not a contribution to "Mental Evolution in Animals," it may possibly help to interpret the mental evolution of man.
The Franco-American Cookery-Book; or, How to live well and wisely Every Day in the Year: containing over Two Thousand Recipes. By Félix J. Déliée, Caterer of the New York Club, ex Chef of the Union and Manhattan Clubs. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 620. Price, $4.
This considerable volume claims to fill a void in our culinary literature. It presents three hundred and sixty-five different dinner-bills of fare, one for each day in the year, made up with reference to the resources of the changing seasons, and, following each, concise instructions are given how to prepare the various dishes designated. Such a work can not fail to be of service, not only to private families, but to clubs, restaurants, and hotels, and it could hardly have a better passport to general use in this country than the name of the experienced chef which appears upon its title-page. Each bill of fare differs almost entirely from the others, while at the same time the selection is made with strict regard to the products of the season and the supplies afforded by markets in American cities. Each is calculated for eight persons, though the cook or housekeeper may increase or reduce it at will by observing the proportions with care.
It is claimed that every dish described may be prepared by a cook of ordinary intelligence and even limited experience—probably a pretty large claim. Particular attention seems to have been given to the preparation of soups, fish, and entrées the reason assigned being that these branches of culinary art are too generally neglected in English cookery-books. The staple of the volume is, of course, its recipes, of which there are over two thousand, the several recipes used for the preparation of each dinner following immediately the bill of fare. In the index at the end of the volume every recipe is named, together with the number of the bill of fare to which it belongs.
The use of such a work where cookery is carried on in a somewhat ambitious and systematic way, and with some reference to its artistic refinements, is obvious enough, but it might undoubtedly prove helpful where the culinary processes are comparatively plain and simple. Perhaps it would be invidious to rank any one defect in ordinary cookery as worse than another, where they are all sufficiently conspicuous; but one of its most common defects is its distressing monotony, a few dishes being repeated over and over, with hardly an attempt at variation, while "canned products" enable the housekeeper to be exempt from the resources of the seasons, and to maintain the dreary monotony of dishes all the year round. Much of this is due to indifference and carelessness on the part of those who have kitchen operations in charge, and there are often dolorous complaints of the narrowness and poverty of the cuisine when the real difficulty is that the manager will not give sufficient thought to it. Such a cyclopædia of culinary variations as the present ought certainly to give relief in this respect, and, if it can not be fully carried out, it offers abundant suggestions from which a varied and attractive dietary can be realized.
A Contribution to the Geology of the Lead and Zinc Mining District of Cherokee County, Kansas. By Erasmus Haworth. Oskaloosa, Iowa. Pp. 47.
A careful special study of a particular ore-bearing district of limited extent, prepared as a thesis in connection with an application for the degree of Master of Science from the Kansas State University.
Report on the Cotton Production of the State of Georgia. By R. H. Loughridge, Ph. D., of Berkeley, California. Pp. 184, with Maps.
With the special report Dr. Loughridge gives a description of the general agricultural features of the State. He has been assisted in both parts of the work by A. R. McCutchen, for Northwest Georgia. Georgia ranks first among the States in the acreage (2,617,138) devoted to the cotton-crop, and second—standing next after Mississippi—in the number of bales produced. Cotton is the chief crop of the State, and occupies thirty-four per cent of the land under cultivation, and 44·4 acres per square mile of all the land of the State. The average yield is one third of a bale per acre. The cost of production, exclusive of commissions, freights, etc., is about eight cents a pound. The subject of an "intensive" system of culture has lately attracted much notice, and some enormous yields have been realized. The report is full of information bearing upon every agricultural aspect of the Slate and of its several counties.
Whirlwinds, Cyclones, and Tornadoes. By William Morris Davis. Boston: Lee & Shepard. Pp. 90. Price, 50 cents.
This is a condensed meteorological study proposing a theory of storms, which formed the basis of a course of lectures by the author at the Lowell Institute in Boston in 1883. It was first published in several numbers of "Science," and is now reprinted with slight alterations in more convenient form. It will be a welcome addition to our slender resources in this field of scientific literature.
Massachusetts State Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletins Nos. 7, 8, and 9. Pp. 12 each.
Bulletin No. 7, March, 1884, contains "Observations in regard to Insects injurious to the Apple," and "Experiments with Special Fertilizers in Fruit-Culture"; No. 8, April, "Fodder and Fodder Analyses, and "Valuation" and "Analyses" of Fertilizers; No. 9, May, "Notes upon Insects injurious to Farm and Garden Crops," and "Analyses of Fodder and Fertilizers."
Synopsis of the Fishes of North America. By David S. Jordan and Charles H. Gilbert. Washington: Government Printing-office. Pp. 1,018.
The "Synopsis" is published as Bulletin No. 16 of the United States National Museum. In it the authors have endeavored to give concise descriptions of all the species of fishes known to inhabit the waters of North America, north of the boundary between the United States and Mexico. The classification adopted is essentially based on the views of Professors Gill and Cope. The rules of nomenclature generally recognized by naturalists, and recently formulated by Mr. W. H. Ball, have been followed, almost without deviation. Under the head of each species enough synonomy has been given to connect this work with other descriptive works, and no more; and the principal references are to the original descriptions of such species, to Dr. Günther's "British Museum Catalogue," and to other works in which special information is given, or some variant specific name is employed.
Home Science, Vol. I, No. 1, May, 1884. New York: Selden R. Hopkins. Pp. 112. Price, $2.50 a year.
A monthly magazine, the general scope of which is indicated by the title. The present number contains a variety of literary, popular scientific, and hygienic articles by popular authors, a "Health and Habit" department by Dio Lewis, and departments of a "domestic" character. The magazine is well printed, on good paper, and looks well.
Report to the Secretary of the Navy on Recent Improvements in Astronomical Instruments. By Simon Newcomb, Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 27.
Professor Newcomb visited the principal observatories in Europe in 1883, for the purpose of taking note of the improvements in astronomical instruments which had been adopted in them, and this report embodies the results of his observations. Among the objects he describes are the great Vienna telescope and its mountings; the great domes at Paris and Vienna; the great Russian telescope at Pultowa, with the apparatus for mounting it, now making at Hamburg; reflecting telescopes in France, the equatorial coudé (a contrivance by the aid of which the eye-piece may always point to the north), the Strasburg meridian circle, etc. The observations are supplemented by the author's own practical conclusions.
American Meteorological Journal, Vol. I, No. 1, May, 1884. Professor M. W. Harrington, Editor. Detroit, Michigan: W. H. Burr & Co. Pp. 39. Price, $3 a year.
This journal is designed to be a monthly review of meteorology and allied branches of study. It takes up the subject earnestly and in a manner showing that the editor has a proper comprehension of what such a publication should be.
United States Bureau of Statistics. Quarterly Report on Imports, Exports, Immigration, and Navigation, January to March, 1881. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 88.
Question-Book of Stimulants and Narcotics. By C. W. Bardeen. Syracuse, N. Y.: C. W. Bardeen. Pp. 40. 10 cents.
Knickerbocker Ready Reference Guide to 1,000 Points around New York. New York: National Railway Publication Company. Pp. 248. 25 cents.
On Induction in Telephone Lines, and Methods for its Prevention. By Edward Blake. Sheffield Scientific School, New Haven, Conn. Pp. 8.
South Side Views. By Rev. W. J. Scott. Atlanta, Ga.: James P. Harrison & Co. Pp. 80. 50 cents.
Scientific and Poetical Works of the Last of the Hereditary Bards and Skalds. Chicago: J. M. W. Jones Company. Pp. 95.
A Judicial Revolution. By Rodmond Gibbons. New York. Pp. 8.
"Paleontological Bulletin," No. 88. By Professor E. D. Cope. Pp. 88.
Civil-Service Reform. By Elial F. Hall. Temple Court, New York City. Pp. 12.
The Tertiary Marsupialia. By E. D. Cope. Philadelphia. Pp. 12.
Limits of Knowledge and Grounds of Belief. Anon. Pp. 20.
Institutional Beginnings in a "Western State. By Jesse Macy. Baltimore: N. Murray. Pp. 38.
The Philosophy of Social Economy. By Stewart Bruce Terry. Glendale, Mo. Pp. 20.
Abnormal Human Skulls from Stone Graves in Tennessee. By F. W. Putnam. Cambridge, Mass. Pp. 3.
Catalogue of the Albany Medical College, Albany, N. Y. Pp. 20.
A New Stand (Chick's) for Skulls. By F. W. Putnam. Cambridge, Mass.
The Creodonta. By E. D. Cope. Pp. 80.
The Mastodons of North America. By E. D. Cope. Pp. 8.
Reasons for believing in the Contagiousness of Phthisis. By W. H. Webb, M. D. Philadelphia. Pp. 16.
American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Report of Director. 1882-'83. Washington: Government Printing-office. Pp. 13.Circular of Bureau of Education on Shorthand. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 159, with Plates.
Illiteracy in the United States, by Charles Warren, M.D.; and National Aid to Education, by J. L. M. Curry, LL.D. U.S. Bureau of Education. Pp. 99.
Mississippi State Board of Health. Biennial Report, 1882-'83. Jackson, Miss. Pp. 204.
Hillocks of Angular Gravel and Disturbed Stratification. By T. C. Chamberlain. Pp. 14.
Report on the Cotton Production of the State of Florida. By Eugene Allen Smith, Ph.D. Tuscaloosa, Ala. Pp. 77, with Maps.
Report on the Cotton Production of the State of Alabama. By Eugene Allen Smith, Ph.D. Tuscaloosa. Pp. 163, with Maps.
Diccionario Tecnológico (Technological Dictionary). Spanish and English. No. 7. New York: Nestor Ponce de Leon. Pp. 48. 50 cents.
Temperature of the Atmosphere and Earth's Surface. By Professor William Berrel. Washington: Government Printing-Office. Pp. 69.
Notes on the Opium Habit. By Asa P. Meylert, M.D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 87. 40 cents.
The University: What it should do and be. By S. M. Clark. University of Iowa, Iowa City. Pp. 16.
The Science of Justice, etc. By Lysander Spooner. Boston: Cuppies, Upham & Co. Pp. 22.
The Revelations of Fibrin. By Rollin R. Gregg, M.D. Buffalo, N.Y. Pp. 7.
Theories of Color-Perception. By Swan M. Burnett, M.D. Washington, D.C. Pp. 25.
Première Application a Paris de l'Assainissement suivant le Systéme Waring (First Application in Paris of Waring's System of Sanitation). By Ernest Pontzen. Paris. Pp. 22, with Plates.
Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, 1882. By N. H. Winchell. Minneapolis. Pp. 220, with Maps.
University of Minnesota. Calendar for 1883-'84. Pp. 123.
Contributions to the Flora of Cincinnati. By Joseph F. James. Pp. 14.
The Minnesota Valley in the Ice Age. Pp. 16; Changes in the Currents of the Ice of the Last Glacial Epoch in Eastern Minnesota. Pp. 4. By Warren Upham. Salem Press, Salem, Mass.
Neglect of Bodily Development of American Youth. By A. Reinhard. Syracuse, N.Y.: O. W. Bardeen. Pp. 16.
The Bearing of certain Determinations on the Correlation of Eastern and Western Terminal Moraines. By Professor T. C. Chamberlain. Pp. 5.
Property in Land. A Passage-at-Arms between the Duke of Argyll and Henry George. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Pp. 77. 15 cents.
To Mexico by Palace-Car. By James W. Steele. Chicago: Jansen, McClurg & Co. Pp. 96. 25 cents.
White Elephant Chimes. Selected by P. T. Barnum. Buffalo, N.Y.: Courier Office. Pp. 51.
"Catholic"; An Essential and Exclusive Attribute of the True Church. By Right Rev. Monsignor Capel, D.D. New York: Wilcox & O'Donnel Company, and D. & J. Sadlier. Pp. 140. 50 cents.
Modern Reproductive Graphic Processes. By James S. Pettit. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 127. 50 cents.
Recent Progress in Dynamo-Electric Machines. By Professor Sylvanus V. Thompson. New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 113. 50 cents.
Stadia Surveying. By Arthur Winslow, New York: D. Van Nostrand. Pp. 148. 50 cents.
Lessons in Chemistry. By William H. Greene. M.D. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Pp. 357. $1.25.
South Carolina: Resources and Population; Institutions and Industries. Published by the State Board of Agriculture. Columbia. Pp. 726.
Systematic Mineral Record. By Edward M. Shepard. New York and Chicago: A. S. Barnes & Co. Pp. 26.
The Principals of Ventilation and Heating. By John S. Billings, LL.D. New York: "The Sanitary Engineer." Pp. 216. $3.
Commentaries on Law. By Francis Wharton, LL.D. Philadelphia: Kay & Brother. Pp. 856.
The Book of Plant Descriptions and Record of Plant Analysis. By George C. Groff, M.D. Lewisburg, Pa.: Science and Health Publishing Company. Pp. 100. 80 cents.
Forestry in Norway. By John Croumbie Brown, LL.D. Edinburgh: Oliver &. Boyd; Montreal: Dawson Brothers. Pp. 227.